Global Warming: The Science and Modeling of Climate Change

This class describes the science of global warming and the forecast for humans’ impact on Earth’s climate. Intended for an audience without much scientific background but a healthy sense of curiosity, the class brings together insights and perspectives from physics, chemistry, biology, earth and atmospheric sciences, and even some economics—all based on a foundation of simple mathematics (algebra).

About The Course

We start with basic principles governing
Earth’s temperature. The class begins
with the nature of heat and light, then builds the very simplest conceptual—and
algebraic—model for the climate of a planet, including the greenhouse effect.

Over the following weeks, we introduce
complexities of the real world to this model: how greenhouse gases are
selective about what light they absorb, how the temperature structure and weather
in the atmosphere set the stage for the greenhouse effect, and how
feedbacks amplify it. From this
point on the exercises will be based on
on-line interactive models for various aspects of Earth’s
climate and carbon cycle, exploring the topics
described in the video lectures.

We then turn to the carbon cycle of
the Earth, how it stabilizes Earth’s climate on some time scales but
destabilizes it on others. The fate of fossil fuel carbon will
be determined by its integration into Earth’s ongoing natural
carbon cycle.

The class concludes with a look
at the human impact on Earth’s climate: why we believe it’s
changing, why we believe we’re changing it, the impacts that could have, and
the options we have to mitigate the situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will
I earn a Statement of Accomplishment for this course?
Yes, students who complete the course at a satisfactory level will receive a Statement of Accomplishment.

What
resources will I need for this class?
A computer, a good internet connection, and your curiosity.

Do
I need to purchase anything for this class?
No. Everything required to succeed in this course will be available
online: this course website, online simulations, or freely available
online tools.

Do
I need a scientific background?
No. This course is an accessible, multidisciplinary tour of climate
science for a general audience.

What’s
the coolest thing about this course?Online climate simulations developed by the instructor will allow you to play with the physics and chemistry central to global warming.

Recommended Background

This course assumes no scientific knowledge and is geared toward a general audience. The problem sets require high-school-level algebra. The optional data assignments require a fair amount of number crunching, but this can be accomplished with a spreadsheet application such as Google Spreadsheets.